


This Wasn't Part of the Agreement

by Captain_Jade



Category: The Big Bang Theory (TV)
Genre: Anxiety, Best Friends, Dialogue Heavy, Fluff, Gen, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, Innocence, Light Angst, M/M, Nightmares, Panic Attacks, Scared Sheldon, Sharing a Bed, panic disorder
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-06
Updated: 2020-05-06
Packaged: 2021-03-02 20:54:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,637
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24043189
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Captain_Jade/pseuds/Captain_Jade
Summary: Sheldon convinces Leonard to let him sleep in his bed after being scared by a horror movie. It was intended to be a one-night ordeal, but Sheldon finds that he feels much safer sleeping in a room with Leonard, and doesn't want to go back to his own.
Relationships: Sheldon Cooper & Leonard Hofstadter, Sheldon Cooper/Leonard Hofstadter
Comments: 7
Kudos: 237





	This Wasn't Part of the Agreement

_Knock, knock, knock_

“Leonard?”

_Knock, knock, knock_

“Leonard?”

_Knock, knock, knock_

“Leonard?”

(Be quiet. Maybe he’ll go away.)

_Knock, knock, knock_

“Leonard?”

“Hang on, I’m coming,” he grumbles, fumbling for his glasses on his nightstand. “What do you want?”

Sheldon is standing there in his underwear and his Saturday pajama top, with his limited edition green lantern lantern in one hand and his pillow tucked under his arm. Leonard clears his throat. “Sheldon. Where are your pants?”

“Leonard, I’m scared,” he says simply. 

“Of your _pants_?”

Sheldon huffs. “Of course not! I’m just scared that...that a little girl is going to climb out of the television and kill me.”

“Dammit, I knew we shouldn’t have let you watch _The Ring_...”

“Can I sleep in here tonight?”

“What? Sheldon, no.”

“But this is your fault, anyway!”

“How is this my fault?”

“You knew you shouldn’t have let me watch _The Ring!_ ”

Leonard exhales sharply. “Sheldon-”

“And also we don’t have any clean bedsheets,” Sheldon says, as a matter-of-factly.

“My God, Sheldon, you can just sleep on the couch.”

Sheldon gasps. “Have you gone mad? When she climbs out of the television, she’ll have a clear shot!”

“You are a physicist. You know that that is impossible.” Sheldon raises an eyebrow. Leonard shakes his head and takes a step back. “You know what? Whatever. I know I’m not going to win this one.”

“Oh, yay, a sleepover!” Sheldon exclaims, throwing Leonard’s pillow across the room and replacing it with his own. “Thank you for protecting me from the girl in the television, Leonard. Although I am aware part of my fear sprouts from irrationality, I believe that with some sort of advanced alien technology, climbing out of a television may be possible via teleportation and some graphics, so I cannot rule out that possibility.”

Leonard sighs. “This is gonna be a long night.”

“Not as long as the winter solstice. Did you know-”

“Sheldon.”

Sheldon huffs and pulls back the covers.

“Wait, wait, wait. Before you get in my bed, can you at least put a pair of pants on?”

“But that would involve wearing my Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, or Sunday pajama bottoms on a Saturday! It would mess the whole system up!”

“You’re just...kinda making me feel uncomfortable.”

“I make everyone uncomfortable. My mother says it’s one of my many talents.”

Leonard gives a loud sigh of exasperation. “This isn’t weird. This isn’t weird at all.”

* * *

_Knock, knock, knock_

“Leonard?”

_Knock, knock, knock_

“Leonard?”

_Knock, knock, knock_

“Leonard?”

“I just went to bed two minutes ago.”

“I know. I was waiting for you.”

“What? Why?”

“Can I sleep here again tonight?”

Leonard blinks. “Again? We went over this yesterday, Sheldon, a little girl is not going to climb out of the television and kill you.”

“Yeah, well, we still don’t have clean bedsheets.”

“What? Why didn’t you wash them?”

“Because laundry day is Saturday!” Sheldon places a hand on his chest, looking appalled.

Leonard looks equally appalled. “Does that mean you’re going to sleep in my room for an entire week?”

“Exactly! Won’t that be great?” Sheldon pushes past Leonard into the room and gets under the covers. He looks over at Leonard, who’s still standing at the door staring at Sheldon and questioning his life choices. Leonard groans and pinches the bridge of his nose.

“Sheldon, you’re not going to sleep in my room for a week. Please go back to your own-”

“But we don’t have any clean bedsheets! I believe I’ve already informed you of my predicament. I’m sorry, but I have no other option.” Sheldon pats the bed next to him. “Come on. Get to it.”

Leonard pauses. “Alright. I’ll let you sleep here tonight if you promise to do laundry tomorrow.”

Sheldon nods his head. “Okay.”

“At least this time you’re wearing pants.”

“I didn’t fall asleep yet. That may change. Just a forewarning.”

“Sheldon, if you wet the bed with me in it, I swear I’m gonna kill you.”

Sheldon gives him an incredibly nervous look and hops out of bed. “Be right back,” he announces.

* * *

_Knock, knock, knock_

“Leonard?”

_Knock, knock, knock_

“Leonard?”

_Knock, knock, knock_

“Leonard?”

“What is it this time?”

“I’m afraid I’m going to have to accompany you in your slumber yet again.”

“Didn’t you do laundry yesterday?”

“Well, yes, that’s not the problem.”

Leonard crosses his arms and says through his teeth, “and what exactly is the problem, Dr. Cooper?” To his amusement, but not to his surprise, Sheldon starts hopping up and down.

“I watched _The Ring_ again. I know it’s highly unlikely a little girl is going to climb out of the television and kill me, but that doesn’t exclude the possibility and Leonard please please please please please please please!” Sheldon stops hopping up and down. “Have you ever noticed what a strange word ‘please’ is? It may have something to do with the fact that I just said it seven times in a row, but-”

“Goodnight.” Leonard slams the door in Sheldon’s face and gets back in bed.

There’s about two minutes of silence.

_Knock, knock, knock_

“Leonard?”

_Knock, knock, knock_

“Leonard?”

_Knock, knock, knock_

“Leonard?”

“Go away!”

“I can sleep on your floor. It...it doesn’t _have_ to be in the same bed.”

“Why do you need to sleep in my room?!”

There’s a long pause. Long enough for Leonard to sit up and bed, put his glasses back on, walk across his room, and open the door. Sheldon _never_ stops talking for that long. Sheldon looks up at him from the spot on the floor he’s sitting on.

“Sheldon, why do you need to sleep in my room?” Leonard repeats.

Sheldon pulls his knees up to his chest and turns his head the other way. There’s another long pause, but this time it’s interrupted by a quiet sob. Leonard kneels down on the ground. “Buddy, are you okay?” he asks, in a much softer tone. Sheldon never cries. This is probably the first emotion he’s seen from him in all the years they’ve known each other. Leonard doesn’t really know what to do. “Are you okay?” he repeats.

Sheldon hiccups, moves closer to Leonard, and buries his face in his chest. “I’m sorry,” he whimpers.

Leonard cautiously wraps his arms around him. “Hey, buddy. What’s going on?”

“I-I-I...I just...I feel so much safer when I’m with you. I...you’re my best friend, Leonard. I-I get so scared sometimes. Not j-just about horror movies. I don’t even know why. It’s-it’s...it’s completely irrational and I’m being preposterous and I...I’m sorry. I’ll go back to my own room now.” Sheldon pulls away from Leonard.

“Wait.”

“Leonard, I need to go get a tissue. There’s snot running down my vermillion border. We can continue this uncomfortably heartfelt conversation when I return.”

“Okay, then,” Leonard smiles a little. Sure, Sheldon is weird and annoying and borderline crazy, but he’s also pretty sweet sometimes. Sheldon comes back with a travel-sized hand sanitizer and squeezes a bunch of it onto his palm after he sits down.

“Leonard, I want to apologize. I wasn’t in my right mind and I accidentally let you know one of my deepest darkest secrets, so you can just forget I said that. I’ll go back to my room and we never have to have uncomfortably heartfelt conversations like this again. Deal?” Sheldon begins to stand up again.

“No. Sheldon, you come back here, we need to talk about this.”

Sheldon looks genuinely confused. “But I promised I’d sleep in my own room. This situation is no longer problematic.”

“But I’m worried about you. Come here.”

Sheldon sits back down, looking rather embarrassed. “You don’t have to be. I’m okay now.”

“Are you really, though?”

Sheldon considers this, then slowly shakes his head. “No. I suppose I’m not.”

“What was the deep dark secret you told me?”

Sheldon looks back at Leonard with wide blue eyes and wraps his arms around himself. “That I get really scared for no reason. Sometimes...s-” Sheldon swiftly wipes a tear from his eye, turning away from Leonard for a moment to compose himself. He continues, much quieter, “sometimes I get so scared I feel like I’m going to die.” 

“Oh, God,” Leonard runs his hand through his hair. “Sheldon, how long has this been going on?”

Sheldon shrugs. “I think I was nine when it began.”

“You’ve never told anyone? I thought you were terrible at keeping secrets.”

“No, no, no, I’m terrible at keeping _other_ people’s secrets. I can keep mine just fine.”

“Sheldon, I think you have an anxiety disorder.”

“No I don’t! That’s crazy. I’m fine.”

“My mom’s a psychiatrist, I know what I’m talking about.”

“Oh, so being related to a mental health professional suddenly makes you an expert?”

“No, I just...Sheldon. I used to get panic attacks, too.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You have an IQ of 187 and you don’t know what a panic attack is?”

“I...I do, it’s just...I _can’t_ have an anxiety disorder, Leonard.”

“Why not? It’s nothing to be ashamed about. It's completely normal. In fact, I think it makes you _more_ normal.”

“Really?” Sheldon looks up, shocked. “I had always believed disclosing this information would make you think less of me.”

“Why would I think that?”

“I don’t know. I just thought you would.”

They sit on the floor for a few more minutes before Leonard stands up. “Come on,” he says.

“Where are we going?”

“To bed. It’s almost midnight. You know how you get when you don’t get your beauty rest.”

They get into bed together. “Thank you,” Sheldon whispers.

“Of course,” Leonard replies. “We can talk about this more tomorrow.”

“What?” Sheldon cries, sitting up. “I thought that was over!”


End file.
